Reel help!

[pikerliker]

I just purchased a new baitcaster and rod this year at Scheels. I'm not very familiar with these types of reels but wanted to try one out. Well to make a long story short I spent $50 on a reel (which to me is a lot). I was fishing with it the second time today and I may have already wrecked it! I was fishing a livebait rig with a leech on Madison and had caught a couple of smaller ones. I had a bite and as I was setting the hook I began reeling. the problem came in when just as I started reeling I squeezed my thumb down in a reflex reaction and pressed the line release bar on the reel as I started reeling. The entire reel froze up like it was locked! Try as I may I could not get it to work. I forced the crank around and it felt like I was rolling marbles around in my reel and it turned very hard. What happened? Is it totalled? Is my $50 dollar reel that fragile? Frustrated and looking for help!

~piker

[hoggs222]

I am guessing that it should have some sort of warranty with it. What brand is it?

[Bobb-o]

bring it back into the people at scheels, they will prob give you a new one

[Bushwacker]

It is probably a problem of a retaining clip coming off of one of the gears. It is definitely fixable, but the inside of a baitcaster can be a little over-whelming the first time you look at it, especially if all the parts are rolling around. If you just purchased it, you should probably bring it back to Scheels. They are usually excellent with returns.

[pikerliker]

Hoggs It is a Pflueger Criterion. The problem is I think my wife recycled the box that it came in, along with my receipt! I was hoping I could go in and find the salesman that I went through and he would honor it since it was only a month ago. Not a good day. I managed to p. off my wife this morning and my Marcum LX1 that I was using for a temporary depth finder quit working on me today also! I should have stayed home in bed!

~piker

[Ralph Wiggum]

If all else fails, send it to Pflueger. They are EXCELLENT! Last year, I sent in a Trion spinning reel that was 6 years old because it was getting a little noisy--no receipt and it was way past warranty. Within a week, they sent me a brand new one...and all they charged me was shipping.

[cjac]

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Within a week, they sent me a brand new one...and all they charged me was shipping.

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I guess that the Pflueger "special treatment" offsets the Abu Garcia reel repair bill you got!!

Piker: Try calling Scheels and see what they say, never hurts to ask! Good luck!

Have a good weekend!! Chris

[Ralph Wiggum]

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I guess that the Pflueger "special treatment" offsets the Abu Garcia reel repair bill you got!!

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True. That's another reason I was so surprised by the Abu bill. I'm still fighting them on that, BTW.

[Guest]

I would take it back to the store and hope they honor it 1st. Otherwise, send it in as others have suggested.

There is a good possibility you did some damage to the pinion gear. The worst thing a person can do is engage a baitcaster in mid cast with a heavier bait to stop the lure... you did the second worst thing.. dis and re-engage under load... accidents happen, even to those most experienced with baitcasters.

They are not fragile.. but they are tempermental. When there are issues, its usually what I described, or someone gets dirt in the levelwind and it causes problems.. sometimes just by people excessively oiling their reel and the dirt builds up on it in the levelwind.